


Love Is in the Hair

by PriorityNaps



Series: SNIPPETS [4]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Dadtoki, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Romance, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 15:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20509235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PriorityNaps/pseuds/PriorityNaps
Summary: The last thing Hijikata is expecting to see when he gets home is an orange-haired child.Dadtoki stuff, except he's not exactly a grown man.





	Love Is in the Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Last post before school starts tomorrow [weeps].

Hijikata is terrible with kids. He has close to no experience with them and, despite having been one himself way back when, finds them gross and annoying. All they do is wail and eat and shit and sleep, how do people find them cute? 

He doesn’t have much of a family, never did, so he’d tried his damndest to grow close to Tamegoro’s three-year-old daughter, Yua. It was tough for him, since she was always giddy and wouldn’t sit still, and Hijikata soon began to suspect that her doses of milk were spiked with caffeine or something.

He gave up after a while and would make sure to keep his distance when he paid visits to Tamegoro’s cozy little house about half an hour away from the university. Yua had even begun calling him ‘Toshi’, just like her father did, and it felt odd to Hijikata since only two other people ever called him that. He let it slide because the one or two times he’d unconsciously glared at her resulted in her bawling loud enough to split his eardrums. 

Bottom line, Hijikata is not fond of people ten years old or under. So when he pushes the door open to his and Gintoki’s dorm room, he’s half-surprised, half-annoyed to see a child sat criss-cross in front of Gintoki on his bed. Almost immediately she reminds him of Yua, what with her curious blue eyes and happy demeanor. Her orange hair really pops out since most of the colors in the room are drab shades of blue or grey. 

She’s clutching something in her hands― Gintoki’s phone, probably, judging by the obnoxious strawberry-patterned phone case on it― while Gintoki brushes her hair with something that, much to Hijikata’s chagrin, looks a lot like his own hairbrush. Gintoki himself has never bothered with combing his perm, which explains its appearance, but that gives him no excuse to use his stuff, dammit!

The two are so absorbed in what they’re doing that they fail to notice Hijikata’s presence. It’s only when he slams the door shut behind him does the child look up. She tilts her head and blinks at him, then nudges Gintoki with her elbow.

“Gin-chan, someone’s trying to burgle your room!”

Gintoki throws a glance his way before resuming what he’s doing.

“That’s no burglar, Kagura-chan, though he’s stolen a lot of things from me befor―”

“_ Me_? Steal from you? When did you _ ever _ own something that’s worth stealing? You’re always stealing from me! That’s _my_ hairbrush, you asshole! And who is this person?!”

It doesn’t even occur to him that he just swore in front of a child, but said child makes no reaction and neither does Gintoki. Both simply watch him with twin blank faces, and Hijikata hopes the kid isn't taking after his roommate.

“Ignore him, Kagura-chan. He doesn’t know what he’s saying,” Gintoki mutters to the kid― Kagura― before turning to him. “Hijikata-kun, meet Kagura! Her mom had to visit someone and her older brother isn’t available either because he has some after school activity. I just so happened to be free, so she’s gonna be staying with me for the day. Right, Kagura-chan?”

Kagura nods enthusiastically and returns to tapping away on Gintoki’s phone. 

Hijikata frankly doesn’t know what to make of the situation. He’s being deliberately ignored and, thanks to Gintoki, developing a bad first impression of himself. 

Well, so be it! It’s not like he cares! He has better things to do, like get started on the homework he’d gotten today. 

He kicks his shoes off and places them where they belong, grumbling to himself and not bothering to fix Gintoki’s too. His bag is dropped nearby and he heads over to the bathroom to wash up. While he’s aimlessly splashing cool water on his face (it’s pretty humid out today and he’ll shower later in the evening) he can feel the heat in his cheeks. His reflection shows that there is indeed a smattering of red on his face and that just pisses him off even more. 

When he’s all done and has stepped out, he sees that Gintoki is done brushing Kagura’s hair and is now working it into some complicated hairstyle. The guy is good at that stuff, and the only reason Hijikata knows this is because Gintoki has occasionally been given permission to experiment with his hair, too. 

Kagura has set the phone aside and is now clutching a handful of bobby pins in her hand. She’s looking a little excited, like this is her first time someone has ever styled her hair and she’s therefore experiencing something new. Hijikata knows the feeling.

The feeling of experiencing something new, that is. Not of someone styling his hair. He likes keeping it simple and isn’t too fond of it being in anything other than a ponytail.

He fishes through his bag until he tugs out a thick textbook and a notebook, then sits his ass down at the small desk by the bathroom door and gets to work. It’s a short assignment, and he hopes he can get it done sooner with the help of some notes he’d taken during Sensei’s lecture. The class is pretty hard but in his opinion, nothing is impossible if enough effort is put in, so he does well. 

He’s close to completing his work, the other two's chattering and giggling having become white noise to him a while ago, when Gintoki suddenly says, “Finished!”

Curiosity pokes at him until he whirls the desk chair around to look at what Gintoki’s done. 

It’s… really impressive, to say the least. Kagura’s hair is all done up in a thick braid that’s coiled around her head in a sort of crown. Smaller wisps of hair dangle down to frame her face and there are a couple of decorative pins visible from where Hijikata is sitting. 

Gintoki reaches for the nightstand by his bed to grab a bright pink handle mirror (definitely not his) and give it to Kagura. The girl accepts it and stares with a pleased grin, turning her head this way and that to get a proper look at everything. There’s a glimmer in her big eyes that Gintoki probably catches sight of in the mirror because he proudly crosses his arms over his chest and curls his lips into a smug little smile before looking Hijikata’s way. 

Hijikata really wants to turn his head away or frown at him because he’d been caught staring, but he’s strangely finding this whole thing… endearing. He knows Gintoki sometimes babysits and always thought the idiot was a bad influence on his youngsters. Seeing him interact with and care for Kagura, even for a short time, has really given him a change of perspective. It’s obvious Gintoki knows what he’s doing, so he’s probably really familiar with methods to make children happy or excited. If Hijikata didn’t know better he’d think Gintoki had a few siblings of his own. 

“Take my picture, Gin-chan!” Kagura says. She hops off the bed and shoves Gintoki’s phone his way, then takes a few steps back and strikes a pose. Gintoki obliges, telling her to turn this way and that while he took a few snaps before beckoning Kagura to check them out and pick the ones she likes. Hijikata keeps watching and he isn’t conscious of the smile tugging at his lips. 

“Did you send it to Mami?” Kagura asks after a moment, and Gintoki answers with a ‘no, I’ll do it now’. She watches him do it, snatching the phone away to probably add a little caption to the photo.

Hijikata’s assignment is left completely forgotten. Having met Gintoki only a few years back at the start of college, he’s never properly seen how he acts around little kids. And he wishes he’d experienced that sooner, because there’s a strong feeling of warmth spreading through his limbs at the sight of Kagura wrapping her arms around Gintoki’s shoulders, much like Hijikata has done himself, though he’ll never admit that, and practically suffocating him with the hug she gives. Gintoki grins and squeezes her right back. 

When they’re done Kagura turns around and looks at Hijikata. She prances up to him and asks, “What do you think, Toshi?”

He won’t lie, Hijikata’s mind goes completely blank, and he’s not sure if it’s because Kagura just called him ‘Toshi’ or if she’s asking for his opinion. No matter the reason, it gives him a little kick of nostalgia, and memories of Yua enter his mind. 

“Uh, well… I think you look... nice.” He swallows a little, unsure if she’s happy or not with that answer, so he adds, “I-I mean, you look r-really nice. Pretty, too.” 

To his relief, Kagura lights up and giggles. He doesn’t really know what’s funny but isn’t given time to think because soon he’s also being crushed into a hug. And _f__uck_ this girl is a _ lot _ stronger than she looks! He awkwardly reaches around and pats her back a couple of times. He can feel his face heat up all over again and when he looks at Gintoki, the guy is watching them.

Kagura finally pulls back and says, “You have long hair, too, right, Toshi?”

Hijikata nods. He grabs his ponytail and brings it over his shoulder to show her. After a moment she reaches out and touches it gently, then closes her fingers around it and raises her hand a little to slowly let go of the strands and watch them fall back onto his shoulder. Hijikata doesn’t know what’s so interesting about that but Kagura is clearly in awe. After a few seconds, she turns around at looks at Gintoki.

“Gin-chan, do something with Toshi’s hair, too!”

Gintoki doesn’t really react, but Hijikata feels like Kagura just drove one of her strong little fists into his chest. It’s an innocent question but she doesn’t know what she’s getting Hijikata into. Immediately he starts shaking his head and stammering out excuses about homework but she’s having none of it. She even goes so far as to clap a small hand over his mouth.

“You sure, Kagura-chan? He’ll probably be all grumpy afterward.”

Kagura nods like her head unhinged from her neck.

“I’m sure. We can take a picture afterward, too. Right, Toshi?”

Reluctantly, Hijikata nods, though inside he knows he doesn’t really mean it. Honestly, he just wants her hand off his mouth. And Kagura finally does move her hand away only to grab his own and pull him over to Gintoki. Again, Hijikata starts protesting.

“Hey, ki― uh, Kagura, I’ve got work to finish, maybe some other time we can do this?” He hopes he doesn’t sound desperate or anything and is relieved when Kagura stops pulling. That all flies out the window the second she turns to look at him with the saddest eyes he’s ever seen. Once again, he remembers Yua and how she’d do something similar to get him to do something she wants. 

He knows this is a little trick kids like to do, he’s gone through many failed attempts enough times with Gintoki as well.

Still, he swallows and says, “O-or, on second thought, that can wait.” He tries a smile and finds it a lot easier to form one when Kagura beams up at him.

He now feels a lot more okay with plopping himself down in front of Gintoki and sitting criss-cross. His heart’s racing a little but he ignores it once he feels deft fingers tugging at his hair tie to let it all down. His hair is thick so it sometimes feels very heavy when it’s all loose but right now all he’s aware of is his light-headedness. Despite not taking care of his perm Gintoki is not at all bad at working out the knots and tangles in Hijikata’s hair. He can feel himself relax into it. 

Kagura is watching so Gintoki works a little quicker, but soon he’s set the brush down and is… what is he doing? Hijikata can’t tell since he’s assuming only by the feeling of Gintoki’s hands― which are currently somewhere close to the top of his head― but he trusts him enough that he won’t make a mess or do something stupid. 

Gintoki works in silence, and no one speaks for a while. Sometimes he'd stop moving his hands or he'd lean forward to look at Hijikata from the side, or he'd pick up the brush to use it again. Out of the corner of his eye, Hijikata can see Kagura still focused on what Gintoki is doing (she looks kind of angry with her brows furrowed like that). He almost wishes he could take a peek himself but thinks it best not to because it might just disturb Gintoki and earn him a smack. 

He feels like it’s been ages when Gintoki ties his hair into a ponytail, sticks a few bobby pins in to finish everything off, and says, “Done!”

Right away Kagura shoves Gintoki aside to take a look and again she gently touches Hijikata’s hair. She’s so closely inspecting it that Hijikata can feel tiny puffs of breath against his ear. Eventually, she moves back and gets off the bed to study him from the front. She’s looking quite pleased and Hijikata hopes Gintoki did as good a job as he thinks. 

“It’s perfect, Gin-chan. Now, picture, picture!” 

Gintoki obeys, reaching for his phone and climbing out of bed while Kagura places herself behind Hijikata and props her arms around his shoulders. He’s feeling awkward. He doesn’t know if he should hug back and it’s a little hard for him to not frown. But then he looks at Gintoki, who’s holding up his phone for the picture and watching Hijikata too with a smile he can only describe as tender. That feeling of warmth is back, but for a different reason, and when Gintoki snaps a picture he’s sure he’s got a small smile of his own.

Kagura immediately lets go of him with a shove and grabs at the phone. She’s happy with the results, judging by the way her eyes light up, and she starts tapping at the screen, probably to send the picture to her mom. Any other time Hijikata would _ not _ have been okay with that, he doesn’t like having his picture taken and liked it even less if it was shown to others, especially strangers, but he makes no move at all to stop Kagura. Instead, he reaches back to try and feel what Gintoki did in his hair and his fingers run over the telltale bumps that mean several braids had been made, all of them starting at the edges and brought down to the center of the back of his head. Gintoki had then taken the remaining strands and bunched them into a ponytail, just as Hijikata prefers.

“You like it?” Gintoki asks, seating himself by Hijikata and leaning closer to admire his handiwork. 

“‘S not bad for someone like you,” Hijikata answers, then rolls his eyes when Gintoki gasps and dramatically clutches at his chest.

“_Rude!_ I’m amazing at this stuff, just ask Kagura-chan!”

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, Kagura, what do yo―”

Kagura’s not there. She was standing in front of them a minute ago, where could she have gone?

“She’s in the bathroom. Probably taking mirror selfies or whatever.”

Hijikata crosses his arms and huffs. “What is it with girls and mirror selfies these days? Don’t you take them too?”

“I’m unafraid to admit that, yes." Pause. "I’m also unafraid to do this.”

Gintoki leans in even more until his face is in front of Hijikata’s. He doesn’t move any more than that, as if he’s waiting for Hijikata to do the rest. And he does. 

He hooks an arm around Gintoki’s neck and pulls him in. As always, Gintoki’s lips are soft and plump, unlike his own chapped ones. It’s a nice contrast and one neither of them is willing to change. He isn’t expecting Gintoki to try and slip his tongue past his lips but he opens right up when he feels it prodding at him. The room is quiet so the wet sounds of their kiss are the only things that can be heard. Hijikata's embarrassed by that.

"Missed you," Gintoki mumbles when they part. They'd seen each other this morning, they both know that, but whatever. 

Hijikata willingly tilts his head back to bare his throat to Gintoki when light kisses start being planted against his jaw. Gintoki hums happily against his jugular before gently biting down and sucking, but not hard enough so as to leave a mark.

Hijikata’s hands aren’t idle, either. He slides them down Gintoki’s waist and slips them under his shirt to run feather-light touches against his stomach. Neither of them has abs, but both have strong, firm torsos and have hints of the dips and curves of well-developed muscle. 

Gintoki’s abdomen is way more sensitive than Hijikata’s, that’s for sure. So when he bends his fingers _ just _the smallest bit to scratch his blunt nails against the skin he relishes in the tiny shiver that racks Gintoki’s body. Gintoki himself has now pulled Hijikata’s shirt aside from his shoulder where marks can’t be seen and he bites down hard as a means of payback.

They don’t know when, but the pair comes to their senses soon enough. There's a rustling sound in the bathroom that snaps them out of their world. 

Almost on cue, Kagura emerges from the bathroom only a couple of seconds after they pull apart. She eyes them for a moment or two and Hijikata would never admit that he starts sweating a little under her gaze. He’s not blushing or anything, is he? Gintoki didn’t leave any visible marks, did he? Gintoki’s shirt isn’t riding up, is it? He steals a glance at his lover and sees that he’s also looking quite tense and is breathing heavy. Hijikata wants to smack him.

“Gin-chan, look at the pictures I took! I sent them to Mami.”

They both sag in relief and Hijikata almost chuckles. Who are they to think a kid would figure out what they were just doing?

“Ooh, nice! C’mere and show me,” Gintoki says, but Kagura’s already making her way over. She hands the phone to him and climbs into his lap, much like Hijikata’s done a few times, though he’d never say that out loud. 

The two scroll through Gintoki’s camera feed. It seems Kagura’s taken a lot of pictures because it takes some time for them to look at everything. Some of them they laugh at, some of them Gintoki comments on, but they’re both wearing smiles like they’re looking through an old photo album full of baby pictures.

Hijikata’s suddenly struck with a feeling of awkwardness, like he’s not supposed to be sitting there, so he eventually gets up and goes back to his desk. He kind of didn’t want to because then he’d start thinking, but it’s nice to silently wonder at how good Gintoki is with kids. Hijikata secretly believes he’d be an awesome dad when he grows up.

Not that he’d ever admit that. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not exactly looking forward to my sleep schedule being even more whack than it was all summer, but here we go.


End file.
